


Detroit Days

by raptordude



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: F/F, Friends With Benefits, Gen, M/M, Yuuri has anxiety, but like... best friends with benefits, dw vic will come in eventually it might just take a bit, my ocs have issues that i could tag but i won't bore you ;), phichit has adhd, this is like a backstory for phichit and yuuri's time in detroit!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-15 13:11:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9236609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raptordude/pseuds/raptordude
Summary: In which Yuuri Katsuki and Phichit Chulanont fall deeply, hopelessly, and endlessly into a love of the platonic variety.or: yuuri and phichit mess around in detroit for five years





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone!! this is sort of my first time posting on here, i'm honestly really excited :D  
> huge thanks to my beta mac (@thisbeautifuldelirium) for brainstorming with me and editing the shit out of everything i write. i couldn't have done it without you <3
> 
> now without further ado, please sit back, relax, and enjoy chapter 1!

The thing was, Yuuri Katsuki didn’t even want a roommate. So when he walked into his dorm room to see a dark-haired boy sitting on one of the beds, surrounded by not one, but three hamsters, he was a more than a little displeased.

“Oh, hey! I was wondering when I would get to meet you,” greeted the boy, “Yuuri, isn’t it? I’m Phichit Chulanont.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s me!” Yuuri tossed a small smile in Phichit’s direction, an attempt at seeming friendly despite his distaste for the situation.

“Cool! Well, I’m gonna be going out to get some food soon and walk around town a bit, would you like to come?” Phichit offered.

“I’ll have to pass, I need to get, uh… settled in and stuff. Thanks, though!”

The last thing Yuuri wanted to do was spend time with another human being. After spending the entire previous day gorging himself on as many of his mother’s _katsudon_ , or pork cutlet bowls, as he could stomach while assuring his family that he would be fine in intensive training and that, yes, they would be fine with him gone, and after flying for seventeen hours from Kyushu to Detroit, he was completely spent. That was why, after about ten minutes of fussing with his bed sheets and organizing his books, when Phichit finally left, Yuuri was at last content.

Yuuri flopped down on his bed and put his earbuds in to listen to some relaxing instrumental music. He let out a sigh he didn’t know he had been holding in and closed his eyes.

It wasn’t five minutes before he felt something rubbing against his foot. Yuuri’s eyes shot open in a panic, and he yanked his leg onto the bed where the rest of his body was trembling slightly, his heart beating at what felt like triple its normal rate.

He peered over the edge of the bed to find that when he yanked his foot up, he had sent the little hamster that had been nuzzling it tumbling over to Phichit’s side of the room, where it was now cuddling with the other two. Phichit had neglected to put his hamsters in their cage. Did they even have a cage? Yuuri sighed. He didn’t see one laying around, so he prayed that Phichit had just left it in the closet or underneath his bed.

Upon checking both locations, Yuuri was horrified to find that no such cage existed. What the hell was he supposed to do? He hadn’t gotten Phichit’s number before he’d left, he didn’t have the means to go and buy a cage or even to capture the hamsters in a temporary cage-like structure, and it would probably kill the little things to just let them roam around the room like this; they could escape or get stepped on.

Yuuri groaned. What the hell had he been thinking, signing up for dorms? He could’ve gone to a training club closer to his home so that he could just stay in his familiar room, or he could’ve gotten a job and paid for his own apartment near campus. Instead he had gone for the easy way, thinking that rooming with just one other person couldn’t possibly be so bad. He sure had been wrong. What the hell was this guy’s aim, anyway? Yuuri was pretty sure they weren’t even supposed to have pets inside their dorms, and now he was panicking over these freaking hamsters that Phichit had somehow managed to sneak in.

Taking in an unnaturally deep breath, Yuuri tried to calm down. It wouldn’t help him at all to panic at a time like this. Then again, when did his mind ever listen to reason?

It was extremely lucky that Phichit walked in at that instant, carrying a large plastic tub and what looked like a grocery bag full of bedding.

“I see that you’ve met the girls,” said Phichit apologetically.

“They’re kind of cute, but I didn’t really appreciate them cuddling my feet while I was trying to sleep.” Yuuri gave a dry laugh, and then mentally scolded himself for being so hostile. Phichit was probably trying his best to keep the hamsters under control, even if it was against the rules to have them here in the first place.

“Yeah, sorry about that. They really like to cuddle, especially if you’re warm.”

Instead of replying, Yuuri forced a smile toward his roommate. He didn’t trust himself to not be rude should he open his mouth, and being snarky with the boy he was going to spend the next year with was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

“If it helps any, I got these from a friend of mine,” offered Phichit, raising his hands, which were still clutching the bin and bag of bedding, “and we can keep the hamsters in here. I promise they won’t be any trouble once we’ve got them contained. They only eat seeds and water, and I’ll clean the bin out every week or so. I’m sorry again… this really isn’t how I wanted our first day to go.”

Yuuri’s smile turned into a genuine one. He was now even more exhausted, but at least now he knew that his roommate wasn’t a complete jackass, which is sort of an important quality in someone you’re going to be spending a lot of time with.

As Phichit started setting up the bin and bedding, Yuuri lay back down on his bed, placing the earbuds back into his ears and closing his eyes, this time making sure to keep his legs safely on his bed, just in case one of the hamsters should escape from their new enclosure.

When Yuuri woke up, it was two hours later, and Phichit was gone again. His stomach rumbled, and Yuuri was painfully reminded that it was now late evening, and that he hadn’t eaten since that morning. His entire being ached for another one of his mother’s pork cutlet bowls. It had been just a little under twenty-four hours since his last one, and he was already experiencing withdrawal.

Yuuri groaned. He had gotten a generous meal plan offered by the training program, where he would be able to eat up to twenty meals per week, so it’s not like he was going to go physically hungry. In his soul, though, he was starving for another one of his mother’s homemade meals. His time in Detroit was going to feel like forever.

After about fifteen minutes of arguing with himself about whether he wanted to sleep more or go out for food, Yuuri finally sat up and put his shoes back on. With his headphones still playing music, he began the trek toward the mess hall.

It was in the low seventies outside, but Yuuri was still freezing. He remembered his jacket all the way at the bottom of his backpack back in his dorm room, and promptly decided that he wasn’t cold anymore. Besides, the mess hall was probably really close by. Wasn’t it? He thought he’d seen it walking to his dorm from where the airport shuttle had dropped him off, but now he wasn’t sure. Where even was his dorm? He’d been walking for about a few minutes now, and suddenly it was getting darker and he couldn’t read any of the signs that pointed to the different buildings. Everyone around him was walking in groups or pairs so he couldn’t possibly approach any of them to ask where the hell he was.

Yuuri stopped, taking a deep breath and a look at his surroundings. He took out his earbuds, hoping that maybe regaining his sense of hearing would help him find his way around. His eyes widened both in fear and in an effort to see his quickly darkening surroundings. It was no use; his head spun and he couldn’t even see straight anymore. The best he could do was make his way over to a bench and slump down, arms resting at his side and eyes staring blankly up at the sky. This was it. This was how he was going to die. He hadn’t even been on campus for four hours and he was already starving to death. He—

He heard a familiar voice.

It was saying something. “Yuuri. Hi, Yuuri!” It took a few moments for Yuuri to realize that the something was his name. He bolted up. It was Phichit, his savior, his knight in shining armor.

“Phichit! Excuse my French, but where the fuck am I?” Yuuri rushed over to Phichit. He wanted to cry, he wanted to hug him, he wanted to dance. He would not die on his first day away from home.

“We’re pretty close to our dorm and the mess hall, it’s right over there. You can sort of see it between the rink and the administration building. Here, I’ll go with you! I need to get some food as well. I’ve just been exploring this whole time.”

For the second time that evening, Yuuri was grateful for Phichit’s presence.

“Thank you.” Yuuri made a point of looking Phichit in the eyes so he could relay his sincerity. “I’m sorry for sassing you and then passing out like that earlier… I was super tired and it’s just been a long day.”

“That’s okay, I get it. Let’s just eat, that will probably help.” Phichit beamed at Yuuri, and it could’ve replaced the sun that had fallen below the horizon.

Yuuri found that the perfectly seasoned mashed potatoes and juicy turkey almost made him forget how much he already missed his mother’s cooking. Almost. His mouth still yearned for a pork cutlet bowl, but he scolded it, reasoning that he would have to get used to the distinct lack of such foods while he was in training.

“So Yuuri, where are you from?”

It was this questin from Phichit, ten minutes into their meal, that made Yuuri realize he’d been too focused on eating to provide conversation. Oh, God, Phichit probably felt so awkward…

“I’ve lived in Hasetsu my whole life. It’s a little castle town on Kyushu, which is in Japan,” Yuuri let out an involuntary nervous laugh, “How about you?”

“I’m from Bangkok! It’s the capital of Thailand. How old are you?”

This guy sounded exactly like someone Yuuri might talk to on Omegle. The next thing you know, he would probably be trying to wriggle his way into Yuuri’s pants. “I’m seventeen, I turn eighteen in November.”

“Oh, wow,” Phichit marveled, “I just turned sixteen at the end of April. I bet you’ve been skating for a while, then, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess, I honestly don’t really remember when I started. It was probably sometime around age six? My ballet teacher thought I would br great at it, and my mother agreed, saying she wanted me to do it. She probably thought it would make me smarter… and skinnier.” Yuuri crossed his arms over his stomach, suddenly self conscious about how much he was bloating after all the pork cutlet bowls he’d eaten the previous day. In reality, he wasn’t even close to being overweight (although he did tend to gain weight easily if he didn’t eat healthily), but the size of his stomach had always bothered him.

“Well, it seems to have paid off!” Phichit wasn’t fazed in the slightest by Yuuri’s self-consciousness. If anything, it only strengthened his aura of kindness, if that was even possible. “I’ve been skating since I was eight. It’s actually kind of a funny story! I was a background kid in a commercial in Bangkok, and they were advertising hot chocolate or ice skates or something, I don’t really remember. It had to do with winter, though, so the director had some kids skating around an ice rink in the background, and I was just having some fun, jumping around on my skates and sort of dancing on the ice. All the parents were staring at me, though, and afterwards everyone told me I had real talent. My parents signed me up for a few figure skating and ballet lessons after that to see if I would really enjoy it, and the rest is history.”

Phichit’s story was so fun and cute and it had a happy ending, and what did Yuuri have? He’d given a boring, short answer, with no story or anything. Why didn’t fun and interesting things ever happen to him? Okay, so he was at a prestigious skating club in Detroit after pouring years and years of effort into ice skating, but nothing interesting had really happened to him along the way. The best thing to happen to him all year was that he ate more pork cutlet bowls than the year before. Now there’s a story that could put you to sleep. He shoved another bite of turkey into his mouth, taking an extended amount of time to chew it so that he wouldn’t have to speak again for a while.

“What’s your favorite season?” Phichit clearly didn’t want the conversation to die out, and for this Yuuri was only moderately grateful.

Yuuri finally swallowed his turkey. “Definitely the fall. The summer is too hot. The winter is too cold so I have a continuously runny nose, and I have a ton of allergies so the spring is just really shitty and draining. What’s your favorite?”

“Well, the weather in Bangkok gets really dry in the winter, so I don’t like that season, either. It’s kind of all just rainy weather for the rest of the year, although the rain is heaviest in the early fall, so I’ve gotta say I agree with you; I love fall!”

“Really? You like the rain? But you’re such… such a sunshiney sort of person.”

“I think the heat and humidity makes up for the lack of sunshine,” Phichit chuckled, “and not to sound cheesy or anything, but I really enjoy dancing in the rain. As part of my training back home, I took a lot of ballet, and this one teacher I had would have the class go outside and practice in the rain sometimes. Something about it giving us thick skin and good stamina. Whatever her purpose was, I ended up loving it, and I would do it voluntarily even when she was no longer my teacher. There’s something about being so graceful and smooth while the water droplets patter all over you that’s really… calming, I guess.”

Yuuri rested his jaw on his fist, chewing slowly again. This time, he found himself being the one who didn’t want the conversation to end, so he swallowed and offered up his own question. “When do you think we’re gonna start training? And what do you think it’ll be like?”

“I think the email said that we would start training on Monday, and I’m pretty sure today is Saturday, although I’m not entirely sure… It was a twenty hour flight here from Bangkok, so I’m still pretty disoriented.”

Upon checking both of their phones, it was confirmed that it was, indeed, Saturday, and quite late at that. Time had flown while they were eating, and while it wasn’t even eight, they both had a serious case of jetlag.

On the way back to their dorm, Phichit suddenly remembered that there had been a second part to Yuuri’s question.

“I’ve heard that all of the coaches are fun. They probably should be, considering that we’re still only teenagers,” he mused.

“Right, and didn’t the email say that hallmates had the same coach, too? I think we got Celestino Cialdini. Isn’t he—”

“CIAO CIAO GUY!” Phichit was practically screeching, suddenly full of energy as he remembered the coach’s saying that had eventually gone viral and become a common joke between skaters all around the world.

“Yeah, that guy! Oh, man, we’re gonna be able to hear him say it _in person_ … Dude, who would you have killed for this opportunity two years ago?”

“If it was a guaranteed offer? I might have killed my own father,” laughed Phichit.

Yuuri cackled, “I might go so far as to say I would kill my dog!” He immediately regretted it. At the mention of his dog, his heartstrings pulled at his stomach and he felt a bit ill, wishing once again he could be back at home, safe in his own bed with the dog cuddled beside him. He decided not to show it, though, opting instead to finally be able to tell Phichit something neat about his own life. “He’s a poodle, just like Victor NIkiforov’s. His name is Vicchan, because I got him entirely for the reason that Victor has one just like him. The people who own the ice rink in my hometown and I are basically all in love with Victor.”

“Then again, who isn’t?” sighed Phichit, letting his head lean back as he walked, looking to the sky and then closing his eyes to make it seem like he was daydreaming about banging Victor (but then again, who isn’t?).

Yuuri’s hands flew to his mouth as he let out a snicker, which turned into a giggle as his eyes and nose scrunched up. “God, I love Victor Nikiforov, and I need everyone to know!” he laughed, releasing his face from his hands.

The two smiled the rest of the way back to their room, and once inside, immediately fell down on their separate beds.

“Wow, I did not realize how tired I was until I stopped using my legs and brain and such,” breathed Phichit.

“Me neither,” murmured Yuuri, already falling asleep.  
“By the way, tonight was fun, Yuuri. I’m excited to be your roommate.”

Yuuri could hear Phichit’s smile in his words, so he smiled back, giving a contented hum to affirm that he felt the same way toward Phichit, and immediately proceeded pass out, not even bothering to put his glasses on the nightstand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you couldn't tell from the summary, this is going to be sort of a different kind of fic. my beta mac (who i mentioned in the top notes) and i had this idea a while back where we were theorizing about backstories for yoi, specifically about phichit and yuuri during their time in detroit, and we thought it would be interesting if they were friends with benefits. so, that's where this is going to go. it's also going to include lots of antics with them and friends (original characters, yes, i know) throughout their five years there (yes, i'm shooting to write all five years here eventually, and it'll be completely within canon!!). y'all will love it, i promise!
> 
> one last thing, i know the pacing of this was slow and i apologize for that, but i'm really hoping to speed it up as the plot gets going! thank you for reading :') <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuuri Katsuki and Phichit Chulanont fall deeply, hopelessly, and endlessly into a love of the platonic variety.
> 
> or: yuuri and phichit mess around in detroit for five years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh it's been a while!! well, only five days, but it feels like a while. hope i didn't keep y'all waiting for too long!
> 
> there's some portuguese in this chapter :D here are (most of) the translations:  
> "Eu fondendo vou matar ele" = "I'm going to fucking kill them (singular)"  
> "Obrigada" = "Thank you"  
> "gatos" = "cats"  
> there's one more translation in the end notes, which i put there for Reasons ;)

That night yielded sixteen hours of sleep for Yuuri, but it was some of the most restless sleep he’d ever gotten. Visions of pork cutlet bowls still danced around his head, no matter how much he tried to push them away. He then saw himself trapped in a cage, surrounded by his family members, whom he cried out to, but they couldn’t hear him. Everything was spinning and didn’t seem to stop, it only got faster, and he cried out but nobody came to help, and he sobbed and screamed but still nobody came, and—

“Yuuri! Hey, Yuuri, are you all right?” For the third time, Phichit came to his rescue. He was shaking Yuuri, trying to rouse him from whatever was causing him to yell out like this..

“Y-yeah,” panted Yuuri, “I’m all right. I get bad dreams all the time, it’s nothing.”

Yuuri didn’t mention that his mother was usually there to make him a steaming cup of tea and stroke his hair and rub his back until he felt ready to face the world again. Why bother? It wasn’t like Phichit would do those things, or like Yuuri would even want him to. They hadn’t even known each other for a full day!

Phichit’s brow furrowed and he pursed his lips as though he was considering different ways he could comfort Yuuri. He finally appeared to have settled on one, giving Yuuri a squeeze of the arm and something that wasn’t a smile, but not a frown either. At any rate, It assured Yuuri that Phichit’s sympathy and comfort was up for the taking whenever it was needed.

“I’ve been up for six hours already, so I got some breakfast a while ago. Do you want me to go back and get you something or go with you to eat, though?” Phichit gracefully changed the subject, which Yuuri was quickly coming to realize was one of his many talents.

Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut and scrunched himself into a ball. He just wanted to go back to sleep. What was with this whole craze over “waking up at a reasonable hour and being a functional human” really about anyway?

“Ugh,” stated Yuuri.

“Ugh,” agreed Phichit sympathetically, “but there’s coffee in the mess hall, sooo…”

That sparked Yuuri’s attention. “Is it good coffee?”

“I’m more of a tea person myself, but I saw one of the other students carrying a mug, and it looked blacker than these luscious locks,” he joked, tossing his hair cooly.

“Fuck. All right. Give me ten minutes.”

“You got it.”

Phichit flopped down on his own bed and pulled out his phone to check his Instagram while Yuuri tried to muster the strength to drag himself out of bed. He needed his own little coffee maker for their dorm so that he didn’t have this issue; it would be especially difficult once training started, and he would have to wake up at a consistent, early time every morning… he didn’t want to think about the horror he would endure.

Yuuri managed to tear his covers off and pull himself halfway out of bed, so that his head and arms rested on the uncomfortably itchy carpet, while his legs still sat in bed, posed as though he was trying to show off his ass to Phichit—which, for the record, he definitely was not. If anything, his ass was too big and mushy—not at all what the ass of a skater should look like. He was supposed to be slender and seductive, damn it! Why on planet fuck did he have to love food so much?

After five more minutes of mental arguments with himself and slowly crawling across the floor, his legs finally fell to the ground with the rest of him. Yuuri groaned at the sudden lack of warmth from his bed, as well as the inescapable threat of having to actually stand up and support his entire body with his legs.

“Want some help?”

Phichit was a fucking saint.

“That would be nice,” mumbled Yuuri.

Phichit hopped up from his bed and grabbed Yuuri's wrists, yanking him off the floor. Yuuri stumbled forward, but Phichit caught him by his upper arms and held him steady. Yuuri wondered how Phichit could possibly have this much energy, considering he had gotten less sleep than Yuuri. Then again, he supposed it wasn't that surprising. Yuuri had the most irregular sleep schedule of anyone he knew, and he guessed most people (including Phichit) had at least a somewhat normal, healthy routine. 

"All good, yeah?" Phichit's persistent good mood was starting to rub off on Yuuri, and he smiled despite his exhaustion. 

"Yep!"

It was time to force himself to get ready, so Yuuri made his way over to his still unpacked suitcase, rummaging around inside to find an old t-shirt, some jeans, and a pair of socks.

“Don’t worry, I won’t look if you don’t want,” Phichit said, going back to sit on his bed to scroll through social media once more.

In all honesty, Yuuri was too tired to be worried about someone seeing him change, but he appreciated the gesture, especially because it meant that Phichit wouldn’t see the flub around his belly.

Once he was all dressed, Yuuri and Phichit started toward the mess hall.

“So you were really asleep for that entire time?” Phichit asked in disbelief. “It’s well past noon, and we probably fell asleep around 8:30 last night.”

“Yeah, I usually sleep for ridiculously long or worryingly short amounts of time. It’s probably fucking my brain up or something like that, but oh well, right?”

“Oh, dear, that is sort of worrying. You’re functional during the day after doing that, though?”

Well, Yuuri wasn’t exactly mentally healthy, but that was what probably caused his sleeping patterns, so he decided to just not mention it. “I guess, as far as I can tell, at least.”

“To be honest, I wish I could sleep for that long. I always wake up at 6am no matter what. It can get pretty annoying sometimes, both for me and whoever I share a room with. Sorry about that in advance, by the way. I’ve been trying to master the art of moving around silently in the morning, but I haven’t perfected it yet.”

“Oh, that’s fine, I’m a pretty heavy sleeper anyway, so as long as you don’t have a ridiculously loud alarm, I’ll be all right.”

“I don’t even have to use an alarm! Waking up hours before I’m supposed to is just sort of a natural talent of mine.”

Yuuri smiled softly as he opened the door to the mess hall. Walking around outside and talking to Phichit had woken him up a bit, but he still needed coffee. He only truly felt rejuvenated when he tasted its bitter disgustingness.

Phichit, being the angel that he was, went through the line to grab Yuuri a plate of scrambled eggs and hash browns while Yuuri skipped the line and went straight to the coffee maker. He grabbed a mug from the counter beside it, went to grab the pot, and—

It was empty.

Phichit jumped, startled at Yuuri’s cry of anguish, which could probably be heard all the way back in Hasetsu.

“Are they seriously out?” came an accented voice (British, maybe?) from behind Yuuri, sounding just as disappointed as he felt.

Another voice, this one with a heavy Brazilian accent, answered with even more irritation. “I’m losing my freaking mind. Who did this?  _ Eu fondendo vou matar ele _ .”

Yuuri was ready to cry. This mug of coffee was going to be the turning point of his morning. It was supposed to be revitalizing him at this exact moment, but instead he was staring coldly at the empty coffee pot that sat sorrowfully in front of him.

“Say, luv, do you know of any good coffee shops around here?” The owner of the first voice was talking to Yuuri, tapping him on the shoulder. They had a weird sort of light orangish-reddish bowlcut, although it framed their pudgy face nicely. Yuuri had to crane his neck downward in order to see them, as they were about fifteen centimeters shorter than him. 

“I’m Claire, by the way, and this is Ivy,” they continued, jabbing a thumb at their companion, who nodded at Yuuri tiredly. This one was taller than Yuuri by a few centimeters, and had dark messy purple hair that reached her waist. She was also not really wearing a shirt over her bra, just a green flannel that she had left open at the front (although Yuuri tried not to dwell upon that).

"H-Hi, I'm Yuuri," He said before shaking his head. "And no to the coffee shop, sorry. I've been here for less than a day and most of that was spent sleeping." He saw Phichit approaching them with breakfast. "This is my roommate." He stepped slightly to the side to make room for Phichit in the small circle they had formed.

“Making new friends already?” Phichit teased, handing the tray of food to Yuuri, who immediately began to scarf down his meal. “Hi, I’m Phichit, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Hey, Phichit… Why does that sound familiar?” Claire pursed their lips and squinted at him.

Ivy’s eyes suddenly went wide with recognition. “Oh, yeah, aren’t you that Thai skater? It’s so cool that you’ll probably be the first Thai kid to get to a major competition!”

“Ah, yes, that would be me,” Phichit didn’t sound as excited to be representing his country as Yuuri had been expecting. He made a mental note to ask about it that night.

“Well, Phichit, do you know of any good coffee shops around here?” Ivy was practically pleading. She had dark circles around her eyes, and her hair was frizzed, tangled, and mussed all over the place. Which, of course, could have been a stylistic choice, but something told Yuuri that it most definitely was not.

“Actually, I was exploring a bit last night, and I saw this little place next to the gas station. I know what you’re thinking,  _ next to a gas station, really, Phichit _ , but it looked super cute. I was planning on going there some time anyway, so maybe that’s an option?” Phichit offered.

“If there’s coffee, I’m down,” Ivy said flatly, though her eyes widened as she said it, telling everyone around her that what she really meant was, “If there isn’t coffee, someone here is going to die.” Yuuri decided he liked Ivy.

“Let’s go, then!” Claire seemed to be waking up at the mere idea of coffee. “How far away is it, Phichit?”

“Not that far. It took me maybe ten minutes to get there from campus last night.”

Phichit must have been jogging everywhere last night, because it had been fifteen minutes since they left the mess hall, and according to Phichit, they were only about halfway to the coffee shop.

“Phichit, what the hell? You said it wasn’t that far!” moaned Ivy.

Phichit chuckled, “What can I say? I’m just really athletic. I guess I walk pretty fast.”

“Listen, luv, we’re all here because we’re really athletic. There’s no need to sports-shame us,” Claire replied distastefully. It was becoming obvious that neither they nor Ivy enjoyed walking through eighty degree weather for extended amounts of time to get a simple cup of coffee (and, being honest, Yuuri wasn’t all that pleased with the situation either).

“Whatever, you guys will be praising me once you get a taste of this coffee. I’m telling you…” Phichit brushed off everyone else’s grumbling with ease.

Phichit was absolutely right. The coffee shop didn’t even have a name, the sign just read, “COFFEE” in big white letters, and there seemed to be only one employee in the entire joint. However, it was arguably the best coffee any of them had ever had. And it was damn cheap, too.

“Holy shit,” said Ivy.

“Holy shit,” agreed Yuuri, taking another big gulp from his cup.

Phichit smirked. “See? I told you guys it would be good.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ivy sneered, and then turned her attention back to her coffee.

“Really though, thank you,” Claire smiled gratefully.

“Any time!” Phichit winked. “You guys all owe me a selfie, though.” He smiled mischievously as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Smile!”

Ivy rolled her eyes but obliged nonetheless, crowding in with Phichit, Yuuri, and Claire in front of the phone.

“Miss, do you want in as well?” Phichit paused and turned to the employee who was fiddling with the pastry oven behind the counter, and raised the camera to get her into the image along with everyone else when she nodded happily.

Phichit somehow managed to catch Yuuri mid-blink, but everyone else looked adorable, and Phichit went straight to Instagram to post it as they exited the store.

“ _ Obrigada _ , we’ll be back!” called Ivy, now grinning and wide awake after consuming three cups of coffee.

“Phichit, should we be expecting more selfies in the future if we hang around you?” Claire looked slightly worried at the imposing threat of having themself documented so thoroughly on social media.

“Only if you want to, although it is sort of a part of the Phichit Experience,” he answered.

“Understood,” they said, smiling slightly. “Say, were there any other neat places you found around town we could go to today?”

“Actually, I spent most of my time last night looking for a pet store, so I’ve still got a bit more exploring to do if you all are interested?”

“Hold the phone,” said Ivy, “why were you looking for a pet store?”

Phichit put his arm around her shoulders, glancing around suspiciously before pulling Claire in so that they could hear his secret as well. “I have three hamsters hidden in our dorm room.”

Ivy’s eyes went wide, and she looked like she was going to scream, but Phichit shushed her. “You can’t be telling anyone else, though!” he whispered. “If anyone with any authority at the club knew, they would get me kicked out for sure, and I really,  _ really _ can’t have that. I’m serious here, now.”

“And Yuuri, you’re fine with this?” Claire furrowed their brow and looked at Yuuri, puzzled.

“Well, I mean, I was pretty tired when I got to the dorm yesterday afternoon, so at first I thought Phichit was kind of a douchebag for hiding freaking  _ hamsters _ in our dorm, but honestly? They’ve kind of grown on me. They’re  _ really  _ cute!” Yuuri didn’t really want to make Phichit feel like an asshole for bringing animals into the dorm, but he realized after he’d spoken that it sort of came out that way. Phichit, however, didn’t seem to notice, so he bit his tongue and held his apology.

“Can… can we go see them?” Ivy put on a pair of puppydog eyes, which made her seem undeniable, since her eyes were already on the larger side, and her long lashes and deep brown irises only pushed her case further.

“Well… yes, but first I still have to find that pet store. The hamsters have been without food and water since I snuck them some of my breakfast this morning, and I’m kind of worried about them,” Phichit responded, chewing his lip nervously at the thought of his hamsters not having enough to eat or drink.

“We could Google it?” Yuuri piped up, already pulling out his phone. “Detroit is a big place, surely there’s one around here somewhere.”

It turned out that there was a PetSmart only a few miles from them, and it was reachable by a bus that would arrive soon (plus it would give them a discount because they were foreigners).

At the pet store, Phichit gathered all the hamster-care materials he could ever possibly need, grumbling something about needing to get a job soon as he glared at the total on his receipt. Meanwhile, Claire and Yuuri cooed over the rats ( _ Yuuri look, that one’s taken a shit and now it’s going to sleep, how cute! _ ) and Ivy had disappeared to go and “become one  _ com as gatas _ ”, as she had put it (“Don’t you mean  _ gatos _ ?” Yuuri had asked, to which Ivy had given a simple, “No.”).

Once Yuuri had insisted on carrying the heavy bag that contained what was at least a year’s worth of seeds and Phichit had in his arms a (real) hamster cage, inside of which there were wheels, tunnels, igloos, everything that would bring joyful tears to a bored hamster’s eyes, they were set to go back to campus. Except, they were missing one thing.

“Wait, where did Ivy go?” Phichit suddenly stopped before they could exit the store.

“Oh, she must still be with the cats,” Claire mused. “I’ll go find her. Be right back, luvs!”

Not two minutes later, Phichit and Yuuri heard a roar of laughter coming from the left side of the store (which was, oddly, nowhere near the cats), followed by two more voices that joined in the chorus of giggling.

Claire reappeared from where they had apparently found Ivy, although the two were trailed by an unfamiliar person wearing a PetSmart uniform, and their laughter bubbled down enough for them to gasp out a few words, “They… were… making out…” they wheezed, “in a pile of squeaky toys…”

Yuuri went bright red, while Phichit let out a whistle. Ivy smirked and bit her lip.

“That was totally worth it if I end up getting fired, by the way,” said the employee as Ivy rejoined her group to leave the store.

Ivy ran her fingers through her hair. “Damn right.”

Once they were well away from the store, Phichit and Claire exploded.

“She was hot, but what the bloody hell were you thinking?!” Claire screeched.

“This is unbelievable. I’m so going to tweet this. Ivy, smile for the camera!” Phichit took a quick snap of her face and then began tapping away at his latest social media masterpiece.

“Uh,” Yuuri chimed in, “does this… normally happen?”

“Well, she does usually like to start off the training season with a bang,” replied Claire, “and she’s always been a ladies’ woman, but I must say, this is the most extreme thing she’s done so far.”

Ivy winked. “That you know of, that is.”

Claire and Phichit both giggled, while Yuuri’s cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red.

“I’ve got to say, though, it was pretty amazing when you seduced that gas station employee into giving you a free pack of gum,” Claire recounted.

Ivy giggled gleefully. “Don’t forget that time we shoplifted, like, ten candles because your room smelled like shit and we were both broke.”

Ivy and Claire recounted more tales of previous adventures on the way back to Phichit and Yuuri’s dorm room. Once they were all sat down around the room, Phichit got to work setting up the hamsters’ new home while Claire, Ivy, and Yuuri each took a hamster to cradle.

“How long have you two known each other for?” Yuuri asked.

“We’ve actually known each other since we were little kids, but we fuckin’  _ hated _ each other until about eight years ago, when I was eleven and Claire was nine,” Ivy said from where she was lounged on Phichit’s bed, her long hair dangling off the end.

“Yeah, when we were kids we would go to the same two-week skating camp up in Ontario, and since I’m a bitch when I’m being competitive and Ivy is secretly super emotionally wimpy,” Claire paused to shoot a smirk at Ivy, who was glaring and wrinkling her nose at them, “we didn’t get along in the slightest.”

“And so one day, I was crying because this one really cute girl thought I was a weirdo, and Claire told me to suck it up,” Ivy continued, “so I punched them and made them lose a tooth.”

“Both of our parents found out and it was a complete mess involving both of us getting chewed out over the phone, and our coaches made us go out together to get ice cream and apologize to each other.”

“So after about twenty minutes, Claire started turning their regular insults into insults that doubled as puns, and I started making puns back. We almost got into a fistfight again over whose puns were better, but one of the coaches was watching us from across the ice cream shop, so we had to keep our cool, and it didn’t go any further.”

“Anyhow, we weren’t really aggressive to each other after that, which was probably a relief to our parents and coaches. Ivy and I still engage in quite a bit of banter, but she doesn’t get all butthurt over it now.”

At that, Ivy stuck her tongue out at Claire, who pretended to be offended.

“So how long have you two known each other, then?” Claire asked.

“That would probably be about, say, twenty hours?” Phichit let out a small laugh.

“I would say it’s more like twenty-one hours,” joked Yuuri, pretending to analyze his watch.

“Are you sure?” Claire stared at them. “You two seem like you’ve known each other for a while now.”

“I guess I’m just really outgoing,” Phichit suggested.

Yuuri shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m usually just painfully awkward and quiet around new people.”

“Oh, well, I didn’t notice one bit!” Claire told him cheerfully. “In fact, you’re one of the friendliest skaters I’ve ever met.”

Yuuri smiled at that, suddenly feeling just a little less awkward.

"So, Yuuri, what's Japan like?" Claire asked, launching the group into a discussion about their hometowns.

A little while later, Ivy sighed loudly, interrupting Claire as they were talking about their adventures in Suffolk. "Claire, I'm hungry," she whined, tugging on their shirt. "Can we go get something to eat soon?"

“That would depend on what time it is,” answered Claire, “I wouldn’t want to force everyone to go out for a meal if it’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“My eating schedule has been beyond fucked since high school,” Yuuri said. “I’m willing to go out to eat whenever.”

“It’s actually 4:30,” reported Phichit upon checking his phone, “so now would be a reasonable time to go grab an early dinner.”

“HELL YEAH!” Ivy cried, leaping up from Phichit’s bed and handing the hamster she had been cuddling back to him.

Claire and Yuuri quietly pouted about missing 4:20, and then gave their hamsters back to Phichit as well. Once the hamsters had all been situated back in their new home the gang headed toward the mess hall.

The meal was all right, despite Claire and Ivy getting into a foodfight not even five minutes into their meal, and Phichit livestreaming the whole ordeal while he rooted them on and Yuuri unsuccessfully defended himself using a spoon and a slightly browned banana.

“God, I’m so tired,” grumbled Yuuri as they exited the mess hall. “I haven’t even been awake for six hours, this is ridiculous.”

“Do you want to head back to the dorm?” Phichit looked at him worriedly.

Yuuri yawned. “Yeah, I think I will, but you can stay out with Ivy and Claire if you want to.”

Claire suddenly piped up. “Actually, I usually stay in for the evenings as well. Do you want to come hang out in my dorm while Phichit and Ivy get up to their mischief?”

Yuuri nodded, excited to finally get to crash for the day.

It was only after Yuuri sat in an awkward silence with Claire in their dorm that he realized that not only had his anxiety taken all of his energy for the day out of him, but it had also given him the complete inability to create conversation with a new person. He found himself in the same situation he had experienced with Phichit the previous night.

Claire startled him when they moved to get their computer and spoke to him. “I, um…”

Yuuri tilted his head and looked questioningly at the computer.

“I have Netflix, do you want to watch a movie? I won’t mind if you fall asleep during it or anything.”

That was excellent for Yuuri, because he passed out approximately five minutes into  _ The Princess Bride _ .

When he woke up, the movie had ended, and Claire was snoring beside him. He could just make out Ivy’s body resting in the other bed. His watch revealed that it was now 1:12 am, and he sat up with a start after taking a few seconds to comprehend what that meant.

Hoping that he hadn’t left anything in Claire’s room, Yuuri tiptoed out of the room and prayed that he could remember where his dorm was this time around. It wasn’t too difficult, as he realized that there were only a few buildings on this part of campus, and that there was only one other that looked like a dorm building. He crept into his and Phichit’s room, only to find that Phichit was wide awake, playing on a Nintendo DS.

“Yuuri!” he cried. “I was going to text you to make sure that you were going to be able to get back all right, but then I realized that I didn’t have your phone number, so I got worried and started playing Pokemon to distract myself, and I meant to go to bed a few hours ago but—”

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry, Phichit! I didn’t mean to worry you. I went to Claire’s and we watched a movie and I sort of fell asleep immediately, and now it’s 1am and we’re both messes, I’m so sorry…” Yuuri felt sick to his stomach.

“Hey, whoa, Yuuri! Don’t worry about it. I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway.”

“Are you sure? I’ll totally take the blame if—”

“Yuuri, I’m positive. I usually have trouble sleeping no matter what.”

“Oh. Me too.”

“Yeah, see? Don’t sweat it.”

Yuuri, of course, had no choice but to sweat it anyway, but he chose not to vocalize any lingering concern he had. Instead he focused on changing into pajamas and trying to get some sleep.

These efforts were in vain.

“Phichit, are you still awake?” Yuuri whispered.

“Yeah, I’m actually still playing Pokemon under my blankets,” came Phichit’s faint reply.

“I meant to ask you earlier, is everything all right for you back in Thailand? You didn’t seem all that happy when Ivy talked about it earlier at breakfast, and when we were discussing where we were all from earlier, you didn’t talk about Bangkok a lot.”

Phichit gave a small, almost unnoticeable shudder at the namedrop of his hometown. “I don’t know if I want to talk about it right now.”

Of course. The two had only known each other for one day, so who was Yuuri to ask such an invasive question? He squeezed his eyes tight, exhaled softly, and kept his reply short, so Phichit wouldn’t hear if he began to cry while talking. “I get it, that’s fine.”

Yuuri didn’t know how much time had passed before Phichit suddenly spoke up again, although Yuuri still hadn’t yet fallen asleep. “Yuuri?”

His heart raced. Was Phichit going to trust him with a little heart to heart after all? “Yeah?” he whispered back.

“I’m sorry. About not wanting to share with you. It just sounds kind of dumb when I say it to myself. I’ll try to tell you later, okay?”

“Okay. That’s okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> firstly, the last translation:  
> "com as gatas" = literally "with the (female) cats", but in slang it's "with the sexy women"  
> i didn't want to include it in the top notes because i didn't wanna spoil anything for you guys ;)
> 
> this chapter was all plot setup and character introduction and stuff, but i'm going to be diving into the plot soon :D
> 
> speaking of characters, you may have noticed that i put in some ocs, ivy and claire! claire is mostly my protagonist from nanowrimo, and ivy is like the teenage version of my other main character and lowkey is a self-indulgent sorta thing... i love them so much i will spend hours explaining them to you and drawing them if you so please... anyways, i'm really sorry if any of you aren't fans of ocs being put into fics, it's the only way i figured i could do it, because if i'm going canon-compliant there's a really limited number of characters i can include and i've got rules on where i can put them, blah blah blah
> 
> thanks again for reading though! sorry for the longer end notes!!
> 
> edit: you probably got notifs saying that i made minor changes to chapters 1 and 2... im just thick and was messing with the notes, it's all good now!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuuri Katsuki and Phichit Chulanont fall deeply, hopelessly, and endlessly into a love of the platonic variety.
> 
> or: yuuri and phichit mess around in detroit for five years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy sorry for the wait i've been down with a really bad cold lately and i'm super focused on theatre right now :P
> 
> anyway here are the translation for this chapter:  
> "Conversa com a gente" = "Talk to us"
> 
> also, quick warning: there are a couple mentions of throwing up in this chapter. it's not graphic or anything tho, just wanted to give you all a heads up
> 
> enjoy!

The next morning was hell for Yuuri.

He and Phichit had gotten almost no sleep the night before, opting instead to simply lay in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Yuuri’s eyelids had gotten heavier and heavier as the night wore on, but he never quite fell asleep, and spent the night wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

Celestino was having none of their sluggishness.

“Ciao ciao!” he’d greeted them, much too cheerful for 8:30 in the morning.

“Get your ass up off the ice, Yuuri, or I’m getting the zamboni out and running you over!” he’d said not even an hour later, still unnaturally jubilant.

The first day was pretty basic stuff; most of the coaches just wanted to get a feel for what their skaters could do, and Celestino was no different.

Yuuri found himself unusually off balance that day, probably due to his lack of sleep. It’s not like he had been all that great at quads in the first place, but he didn’t land a single one that day. Phichit must’ve been even more tired, because he wasn’t even trying to do any quads.

Luckily for them, the coaches had promised a short practice that day, and deliverance had never felt as sweet as when Yuuri and Phichit were allowed to return to their dorm room, covered in a fine layer of sweat. Yuuri’s mind was so thick with exhaustion that at first, he didn’t even register what Phichit was asking him.

“ … and was wondering if you wanted anything to eat. Yuuri? Are you feeling all right?”

Yuuri answered by reaching weakly for the wastebin that sat between their beds and puking into it.

Phichit turned a bit green at the sight of this, but still attempted to keep his cool. “Oh fuck.”

Yuuri gagged once more before saying anything. “It’s fine, this just happens sometimes when I exercise. All I need is to go to sleep, I’ll be better when I wake up.”

Phichit’s eyes were wide with terror. “I… all right, I’m gonna go get a bite to eat with Ivy. If you give me your phone I can put my number in it, and you can text me if you need anything?”

Saying nothing, Yuuri unlocked his phone and handed it to Phichit before passing out. 

Hours later, Yuuri jolted up to the smell of marinara sauce filling the dorm room.

“I want some,” were his first words.

Phichit glanced over, then handed him the styrofoam box that held a huge pile of spaghetti and meatballs, glistening with dark red sauce. “Here! Everything that comes out of that cafeteria tastes like something from a five star restaurant, it’s absolutely amazing.”

Yuuri nodded in agreement, slurping shamelessly on the noodles. Phichit was right, this was probably the best spaghetti he’d ever had, and it was gone in a matter of minutes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eat it all,” Yuuri apologized quickly. “I can get you something off of my meal plan if you want.”

“Oh, it’s fine! This was actually my second plate. I already had a ton of food back at the mess hall.” Phichit smiled easily, and Yuuri relaxed.

“What time is it?” Yuuri asked suddenly. “I was really hoping to get outside to get some fresh air before the day was over.”

“It’s only a little past six. Do you want to go out for a bit with me? I can see if Claire and Ivy want to come along as well.”

Yuuri was already changing clothes by the time Phichit was finished answering. “That sounds great!”

After cleaning out the wastebin he’d soiled earlier, Yuuri was ready to go.

The next few hours were incredibly relaxing as Yuuri, Phichit, Claire, and Ivy lounged about the small field that sat in front of Yuuri and Phichit’s dorm. There were tiny white flowers that sprouted up here and there, and Claire managed to pick enough to make a daisy chain, placing it gently on Phichit’s head, despite his concerns that white “wasn’t his color” (it was).

“You know what we should do?” Ivy had her arms crossed under her head and was watching the unusually clear sky darken as the evening wore on. “We should make a group chat. That would be fuckin’ lit.”

Phichit was already tapping away, crafting the opening message of the chat as everyone else voiced their agreement.

A few seconds later, everyone’s phones buzzed.

_Messenger: New Group Message_

**Phichit Chulanont:** _YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_

After names, nicknames, and the chat title (they had decided on “gay-ters take detroit”) had all been squared away, Ivy suggested that they all get food.

“That’s literally the only thing you ever come up with for a group activity.” Claire rolled their eyes. “Let’s do something else for a change, yeah?”

Not five minutes later, they were on their way to the mess hall.

“Maybe I can get a fifth serving of spaghetti!” Ivy mused excitedly.

Phichit snorted. “After everything you ate? I doubt they have any spaghetti left.”

There was plenty of spaghetti.

The group chatted over their meals about everything from what kind of pets they owned (who knew Ivy was responsible enough to take care of three lizards?) to romantic partners (a topic Yuuri wasn’t too keen on discussing).

“I guess I’ve just never really had the time to be in a relationship. I’m always so focused on skating,” he said rather quietly, pushing his glasses up.

“It’s sort of the same for me,” Phichit empathized. “I’ve had some dates here and there, but nobody ever lasted because my priority has always been… skating stuff.” He looked like he wanted to further explain what his “skating stuff” was all about, but had decided against it. He stopped talking for a bit after that, as did Yuuri.

Obviously, Ivy had dated plenty of girls, and even a few guys in her time.

“She’s always been the one who got around,” Claire explained, “whereas I’m the quiet one who’s barely kissed two people. And one of those people was Ivy when we got high last year.”

By midnight, everyone was ready to pass out. Yuuri and Phichit said their goodbyes to Claire and Ivy and trudged back to their room, where they tiredly flopped onto their respective beds.

 

The next morning came as a harsh reminder as to how late Yuuri had stayed out. It wasn’t as bad since he had taken his impromptu illness nap right after practice before going out, but he still fought to keep his eyes from gluing themselves shut while he waited for Phichit to perfect his “look” for the day.

“We’re just going to practice, you’re going to be gross and sweaty in just a few hours anyway. Why do you bother so much with this stuff?” he groaned, trying to speed up Phichit’s pace. It was only their second day, and they were about to be late.

“I have to make a good impression on everyone!” Phichit replied matter-of-factly. “Nobody wants someone who shows up looking like trash to skate for them.”

Huffing, Yuuri chewed the inside of his cheek before he could complain anymore. _This isn’t even your first impression, Jesus Christ…_

By midday, Yuuri’s theory had proved to be accurate. Phichit’s once smooth hair was now a messy heap that clung to his forehead, and sweat that looked uncomfortably cold could clearly be seen in dark blotches across his body. His cheeks were a deep rosy color, and only got redder as practice went on, with Yuuri smirking to himself as he worked on his triple salchow with Celestino (or “Ciao Ciao”, as Phichit now insisted on calling him). Still, Phichit maintained that he always wanted to look his best. So while Yuuri took his post-practice nap, Phichit took an hour-long shower, and Yuuri awoke to find him just stepping out of the shower and picking up his phone to take a mirror-selfie. _For the love of God._

“Are you documenting your shower on social media?” Yuuri rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing correctly.

Phichit didn’t even glance at him, just nodded happily and punched in a caption for his photo.

Yuuri’s phone buzzed on the nightstand beside him.

_Messenger: gay-ters take detroit_

**port of geese (Ivy da Silva):** _we shld get dinner. i m good w either pussy or the lasagna at the mess hall_

 **chu-chu train (Phichit Chulanont):** _LASAGA_

 **port of geese (Ivy da Silva):** _LASAGAAAAAAAAA_

It had taken no time at all for Phichit and Ivy to discover that they had the same sense of humor.

 **the quiet one who’s barely kissed two people (Claire Young):** _You two are insufferable. Lasagna sounds alright, though._

 **pork cutlet boy (Yuuri Katsuki):** _[thumbs-up emote]_

As Yuuri dragged himself out of bed and waited for Phichit to work on his appearance for the evening, he wondered for the hundredth time that day how Vicchan was doing. He had requested that his family send him multiple pictures of him every day, but it didn’t replace the way the poodle used to snuggle up next to him as they both went to sleep each night, or the way he would put his chin on Yuuri’s leg during dinner, hoping to receive some table scraps or a scratch behind the ears. He pushed his glasses up and squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Vicchan was fine without him, so why wasn’t he fine without Vicchan?

Finally, Phichit opened the door, all set and ready to go. Yuuri followed him wordlessly through their hall, past the little field, and into the mess hall where Ivy waved them down, grinning.

While the lasagna was sub-par, which disappointed Ivy greatly, the company made up for it. Someone a few tables over discovered that they couldn’t eat the food because it had tomatoes in it ( _Who the hell picks up a plate of lasagna in the first place if they’re allergic to one of the main ingredients?_ Yuuri asked himself), and had decided to mash it together with his friend’s lasagna, creating a substance with the consistency of a malt. By then the ordeal had caught the attention of Yuuri’s table, and they watched in horror, disgust, and a bit of amusement as the boy carefully poured the mush into his friend’s mouth, while the immediately surrounding people chanted, “CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!”. It was quite a sight, to say the least. Ivy blathered about this for quite some time as they strolled around campus after dinner, marveling at how the boy’s friend had actually been able to swallow all of the two mashed lasagna slices in one go.

As they ambled about, Yuuri wondered how he had been able to make such wonderful friends in no time at all, and immediately answered that question for himself. _It was Phichit_. He glanced over at the boy in question, who was chattering away with Ivy and Claire. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that if it weren’t for Phichit’s extrovertedness, at that moment he would probably be alone in his bed., eating leftovers and listening to music. He ruminated on this and stayed quiet for most of the evening, but not without making a cute or witty comment here and there, as Phichit’s statements were typically good ammunition for him to add something to the conversation.

Eventually, Ivy tired herself out, and Yuuri and Phichit said their goodnights before Claire escorted her back to their own dorm room.

Most days went by like this. Phichit adamantly insisted that he show up for practice looking like a million bucks. Although Yuuri knew that they would have more time to enjoy their breakfast if Phichit would just spend less time combing his hair and trying to decide on which shirt to wear that day (all of his practice shirts looked exactly the same to Yuuri), he waited in their room for Phichit to finish getting ready. They would briefly meet up with Claire and Ivy to grab coffee from the gas station coffee shop, and then shuffle their way to practice, where the coaches were beginning to help them decide on music and choreography for their programs this year (although Claire and Yuuri also had programs choreographed, they wouldn’t be competing; they each privately decided that they needed to be able to control their anxiety more before competing). Yuuri would nap while the others got up to whatever they pleased, and then they all ate dinner together. They alternated between hanging out in Claire and Ivy’s dorm room and Phichit and Yuuri’s after their dinner, and sometimes they would instead amble around town, admiring the city and the lights that adorned it.

The one thing that bothered Yuuri, though, was that he never once saw Phichit practice his quads. In fact, he’d asked Celestino to choreograph his program with absolutely no quads. Celestino, of course, asked him about it on multiple occasions, but every time Phichit’s answer had been the same: “I just don't think I’m ready. Another day?” And every time, Celestino had resigned to giving him a simple nod and instead had him go over triples or turns again. Yuuri wanted to bring this matter up, but every time he thought about approaching his roommate, he felt nauseated by the very idea and chickened out. Luckily, Claire seemed to read his mind and brought it up for him.

“Phichit, you know you’ll never get any better at quads if you don’t practice them.”

Once Phichit realized that Claire was speaking to him, the spoon he had been balancing on his nose fell, pulling a small snicker out of Ivy. He bit his lip, and for a second Yuuri thought he might cry. Of course, that didn’t happen.

“I’m just not ready.” He repeated what he’d been telling Celestino. “I’ll probably get ar—”

“Cut the BS.” Ivy glared at him from across the table. “That’s what you’ve been saying for weeks. I heard Celestino talking to the other two coaches. He said if you can’t figure this out, he might have to keep you from competing this year. He doesn’t think you’ll have time to learn quads once school starts up, and that you won’t be able to win anything without them. So, _conversa com a gente_.” She sighed. “You’re not gonna get anywhere if you keep ignoring your coach and friends.”

Lip trembling and eyes ablaze, Phichit managed to choke two words out. “I can’t.”

Phichit took off, leaving the mess hall as fast as his legs could carry him. Yuuri rushed after him a few seconds later, mumbling something about making sure he was going to be all right, followed by a quick apology to Claire and Ivy.

Phichit walked faster than him, and by the time Yuuri got to their dorm room, Phichit was laying perfectly still on his bed (though Yuuri could see his eyes open slightly for a moment when he first walked in).

Where was that wastebin when Yuuri needed it? He felt ill. He didn’t know how to help his friend or even comfort him. He didn’t even know what was wrong.

“I-I’m here if you need me,” he croaked. How fucking cliché. Yuuri scolded himself for not being better with words. He racked his brain. _What would mom do?_ She always knew exactly how to comfort him during his panic attacks; she would rub his back lightly and hum, reminding him to breathe every now and then, and she’d make him a fatty meal afterwards. His heart ached to have her with him. He didn’t think he could do that for Phichit, though. He was shit at cooking and he’d only known Phichit for a short time, so he would probably make the both of them uncomfortable if he tried to rub his back.

Nevertheless, he had to try.

“I…” he began to speak, but never finished.

“I’m okay,” Phichit assured him quietly, “I just don’t talk about… deep things all that much.”

This was beginning to become worrisome for Yuuri. The fact that Phichit could so easily slip away from the smiling, bubbly, adorable boy Yuuri had become accustomed to was making Yuuri even more anxious than usual. “Phichit, this is the second time something like this has happened. I-if something is bothering you…” he paused for a moment, breathing slowly and carefully, making sure that his voice wasn’t trembling as much as his hands. “If something is bothering you, you can talk to me. You can talk to _us_ about it,” he finished, making a gesture in the general direction of the mess hall where Ivy and Claire were finishing their meal, although he knew Phichit didn’t see him. “I’m your roommate, for at the very least the next year. You can open up to me if you want to.”

Phichit raised his head from the bed, propping it up on his fist. It squished his cheek a bit, which Yuuri noticed was now glistening with tears in the dim light coming from their window. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment, as though considering what he would say next. Yuuri hoped to God that he would at least say _something_ after his little speech.

“It was my little sister, Malee,” Phichit stated finally. Yuuri heard him take several deep, shaky breaths before continuing. “Last year was the first year that I was allowed to practice quads. I was fifteen and she was eleven, and I wouldn’t stop working on them. I thought they were the coolest, and that I was the coolest because I did them all the time. My quads were all I posted about on social media, and the comments were wild with people saying how great I was and how happy they were for me now that I was finally old enough to practice them. The only one I wasn’t happy with was the toe loop, so one night I was at the rink near my house, trying it over and over and over again. It was getting pretty late, I guess, so my mama…” he trailed off and looked to the side. Yuuri wondered if he was going to continue, but didn’t say anything. “My mama sent Malee to go and get me. I was out too late, so she went to get me and you have to cross a highway, this huge highway to get to the ice rink, and there was this huge truck that came out of nowhere and it didn’t see her and it didn’t even stop, it didn’t even stop when it hit her.” Phichit was speaking so fast at this point that Yuuri was surprised at how little he tripped over his words.

Tears slid down Yuuri’s face and more threatened to spill out of his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away, still not saying anything in case there was more that Phichit wanted to say.

Phichit sniffled rather grossly and continued. “She’s been in a coma for eight months now. She could have died that day. She could still die tomorrow and it would be my fault, because I’m the dumbass who just couldn’t wait to practice his quads. And now I can’t practice them at all because every time I even try I seize up and I feel like I’m going to throw up or collapse or die or all three because it’s just not fair that I’m able to be out here, alive and well, jumping around on the ice while she might never wake up again. I can’t forgive myself for doing that to her.” He went silent for a bit once more. “You don’t have to say anything,” he mumbled. “I get that this is a lot to take in.”

So Yuuri didn’t say anything, not for a while, until he finally whispered from across the room, “I don’t think she would blame you.” He could hear Phichit shifting in his bed to face him, and could just make out his eyes that were now glinting dimly, and his cheeks still glittered with tears. “Malee… If—” he paused. “—when she wakes up, I don’t think she’ll blame you. She was just doing as your mother asked, going to get you, but neither you nor your mother hurt her. It was that driver, they should have been paying more attention and seen that a little girl was trying to cross. It’s not your fault that… that this happened.”

Phichit was the one who now fell silent, though Yuuri could hear his sniffles amplified by the absolute stillness of the rest of the room (even the hamsters had stopped their rustling for the time being). “All right,” he breathed after what seemed like eons, “t-thank you. Goodnight, Yuuri.”

“Goodnight, Phichit.” Yuuri considered adding _Sweet dreams_ , but ultimately decided against it. He didn’t want to add to the discomfort of the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh this is very exciting im finally getting the pacing down and we're moving along very well now :D i'll have a new chapter that goes further along the timeline real soon hopefully!
> 
> thank you mac for editing the shit out of this again and again and again... and for making keyboard smashes in the notes at exciting parts. u keep me going xoxo
> 
> one last thing, you all leave such wonderful and kind comments it's so sweet omg idk what id do without you :') don't be afraid to leave (constructive) criticism either though!


End file.
